The present invention relates to the golf club heads shown and described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,595, which is incorporated herein by reference, and in particular, to an improved metalwood type golf club head, having additional expanded ball contact area at the extreme toe and heel sections on the club face, including disproportionately downsized crown and sole sections.
Most wood-type club heads are currently made of metal, either totally of steel, titanium, or combined with other alloys. Other club heads include a shell made of a steel with a face insert that is made of titanium or similar lighter weight material. This permits club heads to be much larger, yet meet the accepted weight parameters for the respective drivers and fairway type metalwoods.
Although these club heads are substantially enlarged overall, with higher face heights and wider, bulkier crowns and sole bottoms, their club faces have not increased the effective ball contact hitting area, in a heel to toe direction, proportionately to the overall enlarged club heads for possible improved performance, for most golfers. To keep the overall club head size larger, and lighter, as currently demanded by most higher handicap golfers, the structural integrity of the side walls and the club faces, is often compromised. This causes stress cracks, unstable club head control at ball contact, and erratic ball flight control, resulting in loss of distance, accuracy, and inability to produce reassuring and repeating solid ball contacts, even when hit flush.
Many attempts have been made to reinforce metal wood type club heads as shown and described in the prior art. Raymont (U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,399) reinforces the back of the club face with a honeycomb structure. My own U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,230 reinforces the interior of a metalwood with a first mass located behind the ball striking face, and my U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,279 provides an interior peripheral mass basically along the inner periphery, of the club head shell behind the club face. U. S. Pat. No. 5,931,745 to Adams shows a low profile, wood type golf club head wherein the bottom sole surface is larger than the upper crown surface.
Various structural improvements have been used to strengthen and modify the integrity of prior art conventional metalwoods. Nevertheless, for most golfers, the subtle changes to the club head and the expected performance of the larger metalwood club heads, have been disappointing. The performance of most of these metalwoods has not materially improved club head feel at ball contact, or significantly increased club head stability and control for anticipated improved accuracy and additional significant distance. Consequently, they have not meaningfully advanced the golfers"" performance potential.
The important effect of the aerodynamic behavioral characteristics especially for the larger metalwood club heads, is always a most critical aspect, in its overall design. The quest to create a substantive improvement in a metalwood club head, that exceeds the performances of all competitive leading brands, will always present a challenge for anyone involved in the design and development of metalwood club heads. The new concept of this invention accomplishes this objective, in a novel, practical and worthy manner by producing different results in a different manner. The extraordinary high-tech performance accomplishments of the present invention represent improvements in golf club technology which began over twenty years ago by the present inventor.
The improved concept of the present invention for metalwood type golf club heads, provides considerable additional laterally expanded ball contact areas, particularly at the toe and heel sections of the club face without proportionately enlarging the top or crown sections and the bottom or sole sections, of the club heads. Consequently, this improvement utilizes a smaller crown area and sole area than most of the larger club heads in the range of 230-300 cc and larger, to effectively redistribute the weight to the expanded areas, at the toe and heel ends of the club face of the present invention. This improved structural design increases the ball contact hitting area dramatically, by as much as 33%. By laterally expanding the hitting areas and increasing the weight at the extreme toe and heel sections, a much larger and more forgiving xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d is provided on the club face. This creates a low-profile, high-performance golf club head, supremely adaptable for both the driver-type or fairway-type metalwood club heads.
The driver-type metalwood club heads, generally have larger club faces than their counterpart fairway woods. Since the faces of the driver metalwoods are xe2x80x9cwider and higherxe2x80x9d with lesser lofts, which can be in the range of 7xc2x0 to 11xc2x0, golf balls are usually xe2x80x9cteed upxe2x80x9d, at address. This facilitates making xe2x80x9csolid ballxe2x80x9d contact, within or adjacent to the more rewarding centrally located xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d on the larger club face of drivers, which can have heights in the approximate ranges of 1.625xe2x80x3 to 2.000xe2x80x3. However, the xe2x80x9cwider and higherxe2x80x9d club faces that create the xe2x80x9clow profilexe2x80x9d concept of the present invention, permits also having xe2x80x9chigher loftsxe2x80x9d, in addition to xe2x80x9cwider and higherxe2x80x9d club faces, for all sizes of fairway metalwood club heads. The higher club face lofts for these fairway woods are in the range of 13xc2x0 to 28xc2x0. The unusual club face heights for fairway club heads of this invention are in the approximate range of 1.500xe2x80x3 to 1.625xe2x80x3.
Having fairway metalwoods with larger, more formidable-sized club faces, golfers are not intimidated by the size of the standard golf ball. The available ball contact areas of the smaller more xe2x80x9cshallow facesxe2x80x9d of the conventional fairway woods can be, and often are, intimidating by the much larger size of the golf ball, when aligning it with the xe2x80x9csmaller facedxe2x80x9d fairway clubs, at address. Unlike the smaller more xe2x80x9cshallow facesxe2x80x9d of the conventional fairway metalwoods, the much larger hitting area on the fairway metalwood club faces of the present invention, increases a golfer""s confidence and enhances his ability to make more solid and effective ball contact, consistently.
Further, the concept of the present invention, made on a specific embodiment, permits and expanded hitting surface, located at the extreme lower portion of the club face. This unique formation on the club face, includes a reinforcing and supporting member that is located on the bottom of the club head and extends rearwardly from its own hitting surface, which is coincident with the club face. The extraordinary overall construction of the present invention, not only minimizes or eliminates undesirable shocks and vibrations, but produces the most formidable club head stability, when the most severe off-center ball contacts occur, even when made at the extreme toe, heel or lowest portion of the club face. The outermost extending surfaces of the laterally expanded areas to the club face, are generally curved, forming parabolic, rounded, or elliptical type end shapes.
Significantly, the golf club heads of the present invention also provide aerodynamically shaped reinforcing and stabilizing members that extend rearwardly from the expanded ball contact areas and are located at the rear and side walls of the club head body, forming the outermost perimeter of the club head and extend in an outward direction beyond the crown and sole surfaces of the club head. This improvement provides improved precise weight distribution, surrounding the club head, without proportionately enlarging the crown and sole sections of the club head. The expanded areas are located laterally, adjacent the heel and toe portions coincident with the ball striking face, thereby providing a larger, lateral ball contact area on the club face. The expanded areas to the club face, extend beyond a vertical plane defined by the boundaries of the top crown surface and bottom sole of the main club head body, as shown in the application drawings.
The reinforcing and stabilizing (R/S) members are the lynch-pin of the present invention. They directly contribute and enhance the optimum performance possible from each of the dominant features of the club head. They provide the formidable bracing support extending rearwardly from the expansions at the toe and heel sections of the club face to the side walls, and rear of the club head. They form the surrounding outer perimeter and are aerodynamically sculptured to produce substantially greater high-velocity club head acceleration that also provide greater xe2x80x9cliftxe2x80x9d to the club head . . . when executing the faster full swings with the longer shafted metalwood club heads. The additional xe2x80x9cliftxe2x80x9d of the reinforcing and stabilizing members noticeably permit a golfer, when swinging a club head weighing 203 grams, to xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d like it weights 193 grams. The reinforcing and stabilizing members functions are comparable to the wings attached to the fuselage of an airplane. Similarly, the advanced aerodynamically-designed versatility and structurally sound and practical concept of the reinforcing and stabilizing members, dramatically produce unparalleled performance with the most impressive overall improvements, that are far greater than any prior art, for metalwood club heads.
Further, the improved present invention offers a more formidable and unmatched structural, overall, club head design for metalwoods. With this invention, golfers increase their confidence in their golf swing, permitting them to steadily improve their ability to repeatedly execute solid ball contact with greater accuracy and surprisingly greater distance.
The reinforcing and stabilizing member may include thicker walls to provide more mass at the extreme peripheral sections of the club face. This unique structure produces much greater overall club head control, strength, and stability, at ball-impact. This structure will minimize or practically eliminate any torqueing and twisting, especially for off-center hits when metalwood club heads, of this invention, are swung at the higher-velocity club head swing-speeds.
The present invention for metalwoods does not enlarge the ball contact area on the club face, proportionately to the size of the top or crown sections, or sole or bottom sections, of the club head, which is done for the prior art medium to large size metalwoods, generally in the range of 230-300 cc or larger. In fact, the ends or boundaries of the crown and sole sections, as designed, for such larger conventional club heads, lie within the vertical plane alignment clearly defined for these larger prior art club heads. By contrast, the additional expanded sections of the present invention, only laterally enlarge the ball contact areas, particularly at the outermost ends of the toe and heel sections, substantially beyond that of conventional metalwood club faces, and are located horizontally beyond or outside the established vertical plane alignment of other prior art metalwoods.
The expanded additions of the present invention, that create the larger expanded ball contact areas to the club face, are located and extend in a horizontal relationship, beyond the traditional toe and heel sections of the ball contact areas of the larger conventional metalwood type club face. The additional formation of the reinforcing and stabilizing weight members, extend and continue rearwardly (face to rear) from the expanded sections, to the club face, that also produce the outermost perimeter of the club head. This concept not only permits an extraordinary overall improved club head structural improvement, but also provides formidable reinforcing and stabilizing capabilities, specifically to the additional expanded sections to the club face, and to the rear and side walls of the club head.
The reinforcing and stabilizing members are formed below the interface of the crown and club face, and extend horizontally beyond the ends of the upper crown or sole portions of the club head.
In a preferred embodiment, reinforcing and stabilizing supporting segments to the expanded areas to the club face, are located along the lower portion of the club head, whereby the bottom or lower surfaces of the rearwardly extending reinforcing and stabilizing members, may be coincident with the bottom or sole surface of the club head. In other embodiments, the expanded areas to the club face and rearwardly extending reinforcing and stabilizing member may be located in between and/or adjacent the crown and sole surfaces of the club head.
Still other embodiments include a shelf or a set back area at the interface of the crown and ball striking face in combination with the expanded areas at the sides of the club head body.
Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of metalwood type golf club heads that enhance the potential for greater improved performance, for all caliber of golfers.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of metalwood type golf club heads, particularly for medium to large size metalwood club heads, in the range of 230-300 cc and larger, providing additional expanded sections to the club face that extend horizontally and considerably beyond the traditional ends of club faces for additional ball contact areas to the ends of the club face.
Another object is the provision of metalwood type golf club heads having reinforcing and stabilizing weight members extending from and beyond the sidewalls, rearwardly, face to rear, from the additional expanded sections to the club face, that further create an outermost perimeter to the club head.
Another object of the present invention is the provision that considerably expands the club face at the toe and heel section to greatly enlarge the ball contact area, by as much as 33% or more without proportionally enlarging the crown and bottom sections of the club head.
Another object of the present invention is the provision that immensely increases the xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d area on metalwood-type club heads, which substantially enhances ball feel at contact for improved club head control and stability, minimizing errant direction and distance loss.
These and other objects of the present invention will be understood from the drawings and the description that follows or may be learned from the practice of the invention.